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President Asif Ali Zardari presides over a special law and order meeting at the chief minister house in Karachi. – Photo by APP/File

KARACHI: Expressing extreme displeasure on the role police officers have so far played in maintaining law and order in Karachi, President Asif Ali Zardari Friday ordered immediate action against terrorists in the aftermath of devastating Abbas Town blasts, DawnNews reported.

Chairing a high level security meeting at the Chief Minister House, the president expressed outrage to top level police officials and asked them to resign and go “home” if they were unable to maintain peace in the metropolis.

More than 50 people, many women and children among them, had been killed and over 200 injured in a massive bombing in the city’s Shia-dominated neighbourhood of Abbas Town on Sunday evening.

The president also met Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah. Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also present at the meeting, in which he was ordered to extend every possible help and provide all available resources to the provincial government for restoring peace in the city.

President Zardari also directed the governor to personally monitor the ongoing operation against the criminals.

Moreover, taking notice of lack of efforts being made for rehabilitation of the Abbas Town blast affectees, he ordered the concerned authorities to provide them with apartments within a month.

It may be mentioned that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had called on the president in Islamabad on Thursday and apprised him about reservations of the military commanders regarding the current law and order situation in the country.

Acts of terrorism in Karachi and Quetta and targeted operation against outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) also came into discussion during the meeting.